Summer Update

The days have been long and things seem to be moving slower around here. It’s the time of year I like to hit a few yard sales and curl up on the front porch with a book. In between spurts of sourcing and relaxing I’ve been experimenting with new photos for some of my items. I founds some small artificial succulents to use when photographing planters and am loving the look! I think I’ll have to add a few of these to my own decor.

I’ve also been in Photoshop working on a new banner and business cards for my shops:

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Recent Finds: Largest Clothing Haul Ever

Last weekend I found I found a treasure trove of vintage clothing! I went to an estate sale that had close to 10 walk in closets. Just when I thought I was done I found more and more clothing. I found tons of graphic shirts from the 80’s, vintage denim and even swimsuits, coats and more. I’ve been going through it all week and have been thoroughly enjoying getting it all photographed and listed.

Recent Finds: Thrifty Thursday Edition

Thursday was a 12 hour sourcing marathon for me! I started out at a thrift store, went to an estate sale and spent all evening at my favorite weekly auction. I bought some of my favorite things to sell: 80’s clothing, mid century glassware and things from the 90’s that I remember being cool 20 years ago.

I found a great thrift store that had so many clothes from 20+ years ago. I was excited to find some fun printed and embroidered sweatshirts and these 90’s platforms that I would’ve totally rocked in middle school.

Speaking of things I rocked in middle school, I’ve been really looking for 90’s prom dresses lately. I see them fairly regularly and just started trying to sell them a few weeks ago. I love the long lean silhouettes and many shades of velvet.

One of my favorite things about selling vintage now is coming across things I have fond memories of from my childhood and being able to sell them as “vintage”. I can’t say I remember seeing Kazaam but remember hearing about it when it came out. Space Jam I was certainly in love with when it came out and I remember watching Pocahontas on VHS just about every day for a while.

Not to be distracted by more recent vintages I also had my eye out for mid century gems. I love finding Culver brand glasses or those of any other maker who liberally used gold print. I stayed late at my favorite auction to win this set and also found a few little crackle glass pieces.

I also bought 3 bags of these mostly 80’s vintage coal mining stickers. I love stickers and other ephemera and bought these to sell but also to enjoy looking through.

 

Recent Finds: Dream Find Edition

Last Saturday I went to my first estate auction of the year. It was in a small community center building and didn’t look like much from the beginning. I ended up buying more than I’d planned to and found some really great things. One of the most exciting things I’ve found in ages was a box of stemware that looked like crystal. It all needed to be washed and didn’t look like much just sitting in a box. Once I got it home and washed it I was thrilled to find that 9 pieces had a Waterford mark on the bottom! Waterford crystal is one of my thrifting/estate sale dream finds. I’ve always wanted to find a  set. I compared one of these pieces to the Cristal D’Arques set in my cabinet and the difference is night and day. The Waterford pieces are heavy, carefully cut and have amazing optic qualities. Now that I have a better idea of how it looks and feels compared to other crystal I’m hoping someday I may spot more in the wild.

I didn’t plan on buying a lot of slag glass last weekend but somehow managed to. All of these pieces seemed so unique. The juicer/measuring cup set was especially  interesting and I couldn’t really find anything else like it online.

I also bought a small lot of costume jewelry. I’m always attracted to pieces that just drip rhinestones and can’t resist buying them when I see them.

I bought two darling little tiny lockets. The one on the bottom is only 10mm wide.

I wasn’t sure what these were at first and thought they may be shoe clips. They’re all quite old and look to be a different type of belt buckle. I can imagine them being the final detail on an elegant 20’s or 30’s dress.

Recent Finds: Dogwoods and Vintage Duds

I’ve been lucky this week to find two great estate sales. I’d been gearing up for auction season to start up again and went to my first auction of the new year this weekend too. I was happy to find a few really cool pieces like this wonderful Wilendur tablecloth. I don’t find nice table cloths often and have never spotted a Wilendur in the wild. This one not only has the original tag but comes with 6 matching napkins. It fits a good sized table and is such a vibrant shade of red!

 

 

I’ve always got my eye out for unique vintage clothes and this weekend I was not disappointed. This ladies polyester jumpsuit with sailor collar looks like it was tailor made for my mannequin. It doesn’t look like it’s been worn much at all and would be truly perfect for a night of disco dancing.

I also found a few other vintage 70’s items like this flowy dress from a printed sheer fabric and this darling little red shirtwaist.

 

 

 

Recent Finds: Ice Storm Edition

Last Thursday I went to an estate sale and a few thrift stores with my mom. We left in the morning when it was breezy and a nice warm 68 degrees outside. As we were walking into our second thrift store the winds suddenly changed and started blowing cool air. During the hour long drive home the temperature dropped 20 degrees and ice was forming my morning. Luckily I found a few good things to list to keep me busy on that icy day.

I love vintage chalkware and thought these had such an iconic mid century look I just couldn’t pass them up. I think they’d look really cool in a red 50’s kitchen.

I love old bakelite and have a habit of buying bakelite items even if I don’t know what they are. This CDR rotor had such a cool art deco look to it I thought it could be used for decoration alone.

And of course I always have an eye out for unique vintage jewelry.

Finders Keepers: Best of 2016

Here’s a look back at some of the best things I found in 2016 and decided to keep for myself. I spend so much time out sourcing that most of the things in my house came from yards sales and estate auctions. I’m constantly surprised by the unique and interesting things I’m able to buy because someone else no longer needed them.

1) This antique woven coverlet has to be the best find of 2016. I saw one sell at auction early in the year and knew just how much they were worth because of that. I never dreamed I’d find one in the wild. A few weeks later at a rummage sale I came across one thrown in with other linens and blankets! I thought for sure it was a reproduction when I bought it but only realized it was antique when I unfolded it at home and looked it over. It looks great on my bed and matches the bedroom but I’m afraid to really use it. Someday I’m going to find a good way to display it that also keeps it in good shape.

2) Another great blanket score happened over the summer when I went to an estate sale and found FOUR big fluffy chenille blankets. I kept this one for myself, sold two and still have one set aside. It makes my bed look like a birthday cake with ample icing and compliments my cat quite well.

3) This vintage Polaroid land camera was another great yard sale find. The people I bought it from didn’t know what it was and neither did I. All folded up it just looked like a chrome and leather box. I bought it out of curiosity and only after doing some research realized what it did. I wanted badly to get it up and going but ended up letting my SO sell it after I couldn’t get it to work.

4) This vintage Nagel print (featuring the kitschy vintage nursery wallpaper in my office) was an estate sale find. His aesthetic is so iconic and reminds me a lot of what was in style when I was growing up. I knew for sure I needed a print for my office to go with my other multi decade decor.

5) Two might be my limit for old CRT TVs, but I gladly reached that limit this year. I found one early in the year at an estate sale that was the same age as me. I took it home and hooked my NES emulator to it to play games. When I found the cute red portable one at a yard sale and realized it was the same age as my SO I had to buy it too. I haven’t quite found a use for the second one but it’s small and looks cool on my bookshelf.

 

Recent Finds: Dry Spell Edition

 

With the weather getting cold and the last month being eaten up by holidays there haven’t been many auctions or sales here lately. I’ve been sitting in my office dreaming of auctions past. What a lovely summer it was! It looks like I’ll have another couple weeks free from estate auctions so I’m getting through my inventory backlog. At one of the best auctions I went to this fall I bought about 20 lamps. I love buying and selling lamps but it’s taken me a while to get all these cleaned up and ready to list.

 

 

This lamp was one of my favorites. It’s a pretty standard mid century lamp but shade is just too interesting. It has an outer wicker shade but inside it has this darling fiberglass shade with printed butterflies.

This lamp was also a favorite of mine. It might be the oldest one I’ve found so far. It’s made of a cast metal with these beautiful Art Nouveau flowers on it. When it sells to someone with the time to fix it up it should be totally stunning.

And of course I’ve never been able to pass up kitschy mid century lamps. This one with the rooster is about as kitschy as it gets!

Recent Finds: Everything Edition

It’d been a few weeks since I’d done much sourcing but I hit the auctions hard last weekend! I went to a weekly consignment auction and an absolutely fabulous estate auction. It was one of those auctions that seemed to last all day. I was only able to leave once we’d filled the car and even then there were more things I would’ve liked to have bought.

Among the highlights from that auction were 20 lamps I brought home (photos of those to follow in another post), a ton of vintage NOS towels and sheets, several small sets of melmac dishes, and more random vintage items than I can even list.

I bought an entire laundry basket full of vintage 60’s and 70’s towels. They’re all different designs and colors and most interestingly of all, they’ve all got the original tags on them.

Speaking of over the top and brightly colored I found the most groovy vintage purse! It’s made by Midas of Miami and is dripping with beads and gold glitter detail. I researched the maker some and found they made a variety of completely off the wall purses such as giant wicker animals. That’s something I’ll have to be on the lookout for in the future.

I’m always looking for things that would look smart in a home office. I got lucky this weekend and found two different sets of Royal Haeger bookends! One set has the original sticker and the other one took some research to identify.  I also found another art deco desk lamp (this one will need a bit more cleaning up than the last one) and a unique black glass ashtray with a little bakelite Washington monument on the top.

 

This darling vintage metal typewriter has dials and buttons that can be played with.

Another thing I’m always on the lookout for are vintage tumblers. I thought these had about the most atomic design of any I’ve seen. There’s 8 of them and I know someone out there has a home bar just calling for them.

I found both of these at another one of those cold November yard sales. The shoes and purse just screamed to me. They look so much like something one of my Barbies would have worn circa 1994. The hat (also circa 1994) has never been worn and still has the cardboard insert in it. The commercials with those frogs are still seared somewhere deep in my brain and now I have the hat to prove it.

 

Recent Finds: November Yard Sale

I am so excited today because I finally found a piece of Dansk enamelware! It’s been on my thrifting bucket list for ages. I’ve never come across a piece for sale for much under full value. I ran across a few pieces at an auction about a year ago and stayed all night to bid on them, only for them to go for close to retail price.

I went to a few yard sales today and found this piece at the very last yard sale I went to, about a 30 minute drive, way out in the woods. I almost gave up following the 10 or so signs pointing down little winding roads but I’m glad I didn’t. As tempted as I am to sell this piece, it’s likely it’ll find a home on my counter next to my orange and white Cathrineholm.